The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Renewables => Topic started by: Creagan on February 21, 2017, 09:30:36 am
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So, I've got a full load of 3m timber lengths arriving in a couple of weeks' time. Estimated total weight of 24-25t. I am unreasonably excited about this! No more scavenging for old pallets :)
How much space is this pile going to take up? I'm having a hard time visualising what the footprint of the wood stack will be. I have plenty of space for it, but will need to shuffle things around a bit in preparation.
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1 tonne is roughly 1 cubic metre of chopped loads. Neat stacking might reduce that volume a bit, but not much.
So you've got 25 cubic metres to play with in terms of different height, depth, width.
HTH
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I'm going to say more than that. Wood floats as a general rule, and there are also air gaps in between the stacked pieces, so it must have an overall density of less than 1 te/m3 (water).
This is quite a useful resource (http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4441e.pdf). It reckons (see table 7) that stacked wet spruce is going to weigh about 400 kg/m3. If That's right, you're going to need about 60 m3 of storage space!
Good luck! That should keep you going for a while at least! ;D
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The lazy way : http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/substances/wood.php (http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/substances/wood.php)
..comes out around 33 cu metres. So if the bits are 3m long you have a 5m wide by 2m high stack (as example). or I guess a full stacked logging trailer...
More to the point is what form it's in and how you handle it: freshly cut 2ft wide logs 3m long or salvaged rafters from old buildings.. You might have to cut and split it all to stack it usefully or just throw the bits as are into your new pile.
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Working from first principles is certainly one way of doing it!
Density of winter felled spruce? I'm assuming seasoned spruce is about 400kg/m3 so fresh felled might have a moisture content of say 50%, I think that means I'm looking at 600kg/m3 for green wood?
Then there is the stacking density- this gets very mathematical very quickly! Hexagonallly packed circles bound by an equilateral triangle... not even sure how to begin with that one...
I was kind of hoping that somebody else on here might have ordered a full load of wood in the past, and could just tell me how big the pile was :)
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We got a 25t lorry load in 2015. The pic's show the pile after I had moved about 1/2 to 2/3 of it. The stack as offloaded was from the back of the tractor to where the end is, and level with the highest point all along. (Hope that makes sense).
I cut the 3m lengths in half to start with, then re stacked in our 'wood yard'. It filled 8 x double pallet platforms as shown in the picture.
Hope this helps.
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Just out of interest what kind of wood is it / who are out getting it from and what does that amount costs thanks
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Just out of interest what kind of wood is it / who are out getting it from and what does that amount costs thanks
I went to Tilhill forestry, it was £700 for a full load plus 5% VAT, and then haulage on top. Obviously haulage depends entirely on the distance involved. It's worth finding out if any felling is planned near to you in the next few years.
I calculated that this stack of wood ought to keep my little woodburner roaring at full output for eighteen months continuously- so given I light it for maybe six hours a day in the winter months, I expect not to have to buy wood again for a very long time :)
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Thanks how much did the haulage set you back
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It's spruce yeah? Are you cutting and splitting the 3m lengths or seasoning as is?
I have been felling some larch and its *really heavy* .. going to be cutting it to log size and splitting before stacking to season. That should cut the seasoning time by a year I think.
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Mine is spruce. Cut into 1.5m lengths and left stacked on pallets exposed to wind and sun until I get round to splitting. Cut to 0.5m lengths, split and stacked in covered log stores for at least a year until use.
Moisture content typically 20% or less by the time they go in boiler.
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I believe it's spruce as that's what tends to be grown around here.
My plan is to cut some of it into rounds (length determined by stove firebox) and stack these in a well ventilated covered store. I'll cut as much in this way as I have storage for and/or can find time to do. Ideally I'd like to also split a bit of it just now as well, again subject to storage limitations.
For winter felled logs, if cut and split this spring, and stored in a slat-sided log store (in a very windy location, I might add), is it overly optimistic to hope that I might get the MC down to something acceptable by this coming winter?
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[quote author=Foobar link=topic=82480.msg636294#msg636294 date=1487863808
I have been felling some larch and its *really heavy* .. going to be cutting it to log size and splitting before stacking to season. That should cut the seasoning time by a year I think.
[/quote]
Don't envy you there, larch is so hard to work with, we've cut down 4 larch in recent years and it's so heavy, knotty and sticky! But certainly does burn :)
For winter felled logs, if cut and split this spring, and stored in a slat-sided log store (in a very windy location, I might add), is it overly optimistic to hope that I might get the MC down to something acceptable by this coming winter?
They'll be fine for winter burning. Plenty of air gaps between the logs, even better if its south facing.
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So next stop- log splitter.
Saw Screwfix had some money off their cheapest one, down to £135- but it's not in stock everywhere. Grr. Why do they do that?
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Cheap spitters aren't worth the money , get a decent upright one or don't bother - tbh you'd be better spending the money on a decent splitting maul and wedges
(the absolute best splitters are the ones that run off a tractor - assuming of course you have a tractor)
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Logs arrived yesterday. Footprint of the pile is about 6x8m, but it is heaped up against a bank on one side. If it was freestanding it would have to be spread out slightly more.
My splitting axe is whistling through the rounds with little effort- I guess it is true that green wood splits more easily.
By far the most time consuming bit is picking up all the chunks after they have flown off. I guess I should grab some pallets and make a little enclosure before I chop any more.
Also the Screwfix £50 electric chainsaw is happily chopping the logs into rounds, but the brand new chain on it explains that. Bar is just long enough for the biggest logs.
I guess I can get by without a splitter for now, but once the wood has seasoned it will probably be a different story.
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Saw a pic once where a large tyre had been cut inhalf and placed over the chopping block allowing the person to split 3 or 4 rounds without bending down to ground level to retrieve half rounds for quartering. Probably works best on fresh even rounds like yours. By supporting it then the chopping block was unlikely to fall over either.
Regen
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I use a tyre on the chopping block - works really well. You can also use bungee cord tied around the log, but I feared I would slice it in two more often than not! :)
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Good idea- would need to be a big tyre though. Three pallets arranged in a cubicle probably easier to knock up, seeing as I have a pile of them already.